Ball sprue swage method and means

ABSTRACT

A ball sprue swage device for use in combination with a flat substantially rigid surface and comprising a cylindrical shaped body having a flat face portion, a sleeve member carried by the said body and extending around the outer periphery of the said body to form a wall around the outer periphery of the flat surface, the depth of said wall being substantially equal to the diameter of the ball to be swaged. A separate ball retainer ring having a thickness less than the depth of the said wall, and having an outer diameter less than the inner diameter of the sleeve member is provided whereby the balls having sprues thereon are placed within the retaining ring on the rigid surface, the body and sleeve member being placed over the retaining ring and balls and the body and sleeve member being then moved in a revolving circular motion thereby causing the balls to be rounded and the sprues thereon to be removed.

United States Patent [191- Teague V 1 1 Nov. 12, 1974 BALL SPRUE SWAGE METHOD AND MEANS [76] Inventor: Gilbert B. Teague, 2111 W. 44th,

Tulsa, Okla. 74104 Primary Examiner-Milton S. Mehr Attorney, Agent, or Firm-William S. Dorman [57] ABSTRACT A ball sprue swage device for use in combination with a flat substantially rigid surface and comprising a cylindrical shaped body having a flat face portion, a sleeve member carried by the said body and extending around the outer periphery of the said body to form a wall around the outer periphery of the flat surface, the depth of said wall being substantially equal to the diameter of the ball to be swaged. A separate ball rctainer ring having a thickness less than the depth of the said wall, and having an outer diameter less than the inner diameter of the sleeve member is provided whereby the balls having sprues thereon are placed within the retaining ring on the rigid surface, the body and sleeve member being placed over the retaining ring and balls and the body and sleeve member being then moved in a revolving circular motion thereby causing the balls to be rounded and the sprues thereon to be removed.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to improvements in ball swage devices and particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a ball sprue swage for removing sprues for musket balls and the like and for improving the roundness thereof. 1

2. Description of the Prior Art Muzzle loading firearms, both rifles and pistols, are becoming very popular today with sportsmen, and part of the enjoyment of using such muzzle loading firearms lies in the sportsman being able to make their own bullets therefor. The most common method of making such bullets is by pouring molten lead into a form which is the general shape of a ball having a diameter commensurate with the caliber of the firearm. However, since the molten lead must be poured through a small hole in the mold, when the ball is removed therefrom, it is left with a waste piece or deformity called a sprue which constitutes an out of roundness of the ball. Unless this sprue is removed from the ball before loading it into the gun, it can cause some damage to the barrel of the gun and will invariably cause the ball upon firing to travel in an undesirable path and thereby lessen the accuracy of the firearm. I

The rounding of metallic balls has always been a problem, especially in the construction of hollow metal balls wherein two halves are molded and then welded together, the swaging thereof being required to remove or smooth the weld bead therearound. One such device is taught in the patent to Niles, Serial Number 2,963,772 issued in 1960, and entitled Method of Making Balls wherein the said balls are placed in an annular shaped groove and a block having a similar annular shaped groove is placed on top of the balls and rotated in an attempt to eliminate or smooth-the weld joint therearound. Another solution to the problem is taught by the patent to Hathorn, No. 598,510 issued in 1898 and entitled Ball Grinding Machine wherein drums are mounted on a shaft, steel balls being placed in the drums in a grinding solution, the said drums rotated thereby tending to grind the balls into a spherical shape.

The Niles device has a particular disadvantage of providing pure mechanical rotational motion which can cause the balls being swaged therein to take onan out-of-round shape or pear shape whereas balls being ground in the Hathorn ball grinding machine have the entire surface thereof abraded thereby reducing the size of the ball.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention contemplates a novel ball sprue swage which is designed and constructed for overcoming the above disadvantages and for providing a simple and efficient swaging tool which is economically feasible for most sportsmen who wish to make their own musket balls for use with musket loading firearms.

The present device is provided with a simple cylindrical shaped body member having a flat surface at one end thereof, a sleeve member secured around the body member and extending beyond the flat surface to form a wall around the said flat surface, the depth of the said 2 wall being adjustable to be commensurate with the diameter or desired diameter of the ball to be swaged therein. A separate retainer ring is provided which has an outer diameter substantially equal to or less thanthe diameter of the sleeve member so that the said retainer ring may be received within the sleeve member. The balls having sprues thereon or other defects thereon may then be placed within the retainer ring of a flat surface such as a table saw top, Formica surface, wooden desk, table or the like and the cylindrical shaped. body having the sleeve therearound pressed down against the upper surface of the ball. The entire body, sleeve member, retainer ring and balls therein may then be moved or revolved in a circular motion which causes the balls to rub against each other and the flat surface thereby causing the sprues thereon to be eliminated and the imperfections within the ball to be removed.

It has been found that the swaging operation is greatly enhanced by the use of a lubricant such as spray graphite which may be sprayed on the balls prior to being swaged in the device. This device is particularly applicable to the swaging of lead balls since the lead is sufficiently soft so that it may be shaped by'a moderate amount of pressure between the swaging device and the table top. Another advantage in the present system lies in the fact that a grinding solution is not required to remove the spur from a lead ball or the like which allows the molding of the said ball to substantially the exact desired diameter before the swaging operation. Still another advantage lies in the fact that the random type movement of the swaging device tends to cancel out mechanical type errors thereby resulting in a ball which is more round than that produced with purely mechanical movement.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other and further advantageous features of the present invention will hereinafter more fully appear in connection with a detailed description of the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a bottom view of a ball sprue swage device embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the swage device of FIG. 1 taken along the broken lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an elevational sectional view of a fixed sized swage device and FIG. 4 depicts three typical musket ball castings having a spur left on one side thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings in detail, reference character 10 generally indicates a ball sprue swage device having a substantially cylindrical body member 12, said body member 12 having a flat surface 14 on one side thereof and a centrally disposed upwardly extending stud member 16 on the opposite side of the face 14.

The body member is provided with a plurality of threads 24 around the outer periphery thereof adjacent to the face 14 whereas the sleeve member 18 is provided with a plurality of threads 26 around the inner periphery thereof, the said threads 26 of the sleeve member 18 being complementary with the threads 24 of the body member 12. The opposite end of the body member 12 is provided with an outwardly extending flange member 28 which may be used as a stop in adjusting the depth of the sleeve member 18. An annular shaped retainer nut 30 having the inner periphery thereof threaded to be compatable with the threads 24 of the body member 12 is threadedly attached to the body member 12 adjacent to the sleeve member 18 so that the said sleeve member 18 may be set at a desired depth and locked into place by the retainer nut 30.

The stud member 16 is provided with a plurality of threads 32 adjacent to the base thereof, the upper end of the stud member 16 constituting a shank for attaching a hand drill or the like thereto for a purpose that will be hereinafter set forth. A cylindrical handle member 34 having a centrally disposed bore 36 therin is also provided with a plurality of threads 38 which are compatable with the threads 32 of the stud member 16 so that the said handle member 34 may be threadedly attached to the stud 16 for hand operation of the device.

Referring now to FIG. 4, reference character 40 generally indicates a metallic or lead ball which has been formed in a mold and having a flat portion 42 on one side thereof which is slightly exaggerated for purposes of clarity and which is caused by cutting a sprue off the ball 40 at a point which cuts into the actual ball. Reference character 44 represents a ball which has been molded having a sprue 46 which slightly cuts into the radius of the ball and leaves a rim around the periphery thereof, and reference character 48 depicts a ball having an outwardly extending sprue 50 thereon. These sprues are always present when an ordinary mold is used to form the lead ball.

In operation, the sleeve member 18 is adjusted to provide a wall depth substantially equal to the desired diameter of the ball to be swaged. The retainer nut is then tightened against the upper end of the sleeve member 18 to lock the said sleeve member 18 into place with respect to the body 12. A plurality of unfinished lead balls 52 are then placed within the retainer ring 22 on a flat table top or surface 54, the said surface 54 being of wood, metal or any suitable flat rigid surface. A lubricant (not shown) preferably of the spray graphite type is then sprayed on the balls 52 for ease of operation of the swaging device 10. The handle member 34 may then be attached to the stud member 16 and and the entire assembly moved to and fro and with a circular motion around the table top 54 thereby causing the said balls 52 to rub together thereby eliminating the sprues thereabout. It has been found by experiment that'when the sprue has actually cut out a portion of the ball as shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b this rubbing operation will cause some lead particles to fill in the cavity or flat portion whereas the outwardly extending sprue deformities as shown in FIGS. 4b and 4c are eliminated and smoothed into the balls to .form a smooth spherical ball.

It is also noted that instead of using the handle member 34 an electric drill or the like (not shown) may be attached to the stud member 16 by simply chucking the stud member 16 into the drill. Said drill may then be turned on to rotate the body member 12 while moving the said assembly 10 to and fro on the table top 54.

Referring now to P16. 3, reference character 56 generally indicates a ball sprue swage device which is similar to the swage device ltlhereinbefore described except that the sleeve member 58 thereof is set at a fixed height thereby limiting the use of the device 56-to the swaging of a single size of ball. The retainer ring 60 of the swaging device 56 is substantially identical to the retainer ring 22 of the swaging device 10. The upwardly extending stud member 62 and associated removable handle 64 are substantially identical to the stud member 16 and the handle member 34 on the swage device 10.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present invention provides a ball sprue swage device particularly designed and constructed for removing the sprue from molded musket ball and the like and for smoothing the outer surface thereof. The novel sprue swage device is economical and durable in construction and simple and efficient in operation.

Whereas the present invention has been described in particular relation to the drawings attached hereto, it should be understood that other and further modifications apart from those shown or suggested herein may be made within the spirit and scope of this invention. For example, a suitable micrometer type indicia may be provided on the device 10'for facilitating the determination of exactly what size or depth is provided for the wall 20 of the sleeve 18, thus assuring that the depthof the wall 6 is substantially equal to the diameter of the bullets to be swaged thereby.

What is claimed is:

1. A ball sprue swage device for use in combination with a flat substantially rigid surface and comprising a cylindrical body having a flat face at one end thereof, a sleeve member carried by the said body and extending around the outer periphery of the said body to form a wall around the outer periphery of the flat face, the depth of said wall being substantially equal to the diameter of the ball to be swaged, a ball retainer ring having a thickness less than the depth of the wall of the sleeve member and having an outer diameter less than the inner diameter of the sleeve member whereby the balls having sprues thereon may be placed within the retainer ring on the rigid surface, the body and sleeve member being placed over the retainer ring and balls, the said device being moved in a revolving circular pattern thereby causing the said balls to be rounded and the sprues thereon removed.

2. A ball sprue swage device as set forth in claim 1 wherein the said body member is provided with aplurality of external threads around the outer periphery thereof adjacent tothe flat face thereof and the sleeve member is provided with a plurality of internal threads around the inner periphery thereof, the said sleeve member being threadedly disposed on the body member for varying the depth of the wall with respect to the flat face of the body in accordance with the various sized balls to be swaged thereby.

3. A ball sprue swage device as set forth in claim 2 wherein a substantially annular shaped locking nut having a plurality of internal threads therein is threadedly disposed on the body member adjacent to the sleeve member for locking the said sleeve member into position at the desired wall depth.

4. A ball sprue swage device as set forth in claim 1 wherein handle means is secured to the body member on the opposite side thereof from the flat face.

5. A ball sprue swage device as set forth in claim 4 wherein the said handle means comprises a centrally disposed outwardly extending stud member.

6. A ball sprue swage device as set forth in claim 5 therein. 

1. A ball sprue swage device for use in combination with a flat substantially rigid surface and comprising a cylindrical body having a flat face at one end thereof, a sleeve member carried by the said body and extending around the outer periphery of the said body to form a wall around the outer periphery of the flat face, the depth of said wall being substantially equal to the diameter of the ball to be swaged, a ball retainer ring having a thickness less than the depth of the wall of the sleeve member and having an outer diameter less than the inner diameter of the sleeve member whereby the balls having sprues thereon may be placed within the retainer ring on the rigid surface, the body and sleeve member being placed over the retainer ring and balls, the said device being moved in a revolving circular pattern thereby causing the said balls to be rounded and the sprues thereon removed.
 2. A ball sprue swage device as set forth in claim 1 wherein the said body member is provided with a plurality of external threads around the outer periphery thereof adjacent to the flat face thereof and the sleeve member is provided with a plurality of internal threads around the inner periphery thereof, the said sleeve member being threadedly disposed on the body member for varying the depth of the wall with respect to the flat face of the body in accordance with the various sized balls to be swaged thereby.
 3. A ball sprue swage device as set forth in claim 2 wherein a substantially annular shaped locking nut having a plurality of internal threads therein is threadedly disposed on the body member adjacent to the sleeve member for locking the said sleeve member into position at the desired wall depth.
 4. A ball sprue swage device as set forth in claim 1 wherein handle means is secured to the body member on the opposite side thereof from the flat face.
 5. A ball sprue swage device as set forth in claim 4 wherein the said handle means comprises a centrally disposed outwardly extending stud member.
 6. A ball sprue swage device as set forth in claim 5 wherein the said stud member is provided with a plurality of external threads adjacent to the body member, and a handle grip member having a threaded bore therein for threadedly receiving the stud member therein. 